The family-owned cable TV and Internet provider was sold to Telephone and Data Systems Inc., the parent company of U.S. Cellular.

The purchase of BendBroadband will cost Telephone and Data Systems $261 million.

Both Amy Tykeson and officials with Telephone and Data Systems say BendBroadband customers should expect no changes. But for Tykeson, the company’s president and CEO, the sale will be a major milestone in a cable-industry career that began with a job at Home Box Office at age 23 and has continued for more than 30 years.